Lapidary machine



23, 1966 c. L. GIEZENTANNER 3,267,618

LAPIDARY MACHINE Filed Aug. 28, 1963 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. CHA RLES L. G/EZENTA/VNER /hza fZ/kh ArTYs.

23, 1966 c. L. GIEZENTANNER 3,267,618

LAPIDARY MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 28, 1963 lwutu I IN VEN TOR.

m T T A 23, 1966 c. GIEZENTANNER 3,267,618

LAPIDARY MACHINE Filed Aug. 28, 1963 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR. CHA RLES L. G/EZENTA/VNER BY fizflv ATTYs.

United States Patent 3,267,618 LAPIDARY MACHINE Charles L. Giezentanner, 521 Juniper Drive, Moses Lake, Wash. Filed Aug. 28, 1963, Ser. No. 305,176 2 Claims. (Cl. 51-129) This invention relates to a novel machine for lapidary work, such as the grinding and polishing of flat, irregular, or geometric rock surfaces.

The present invention relates to a lapidary machine, particularly one than can be readily used for the polishing of flat or irregular rock surfaces without manual operations or for normal usage as a lapidary wheel. The device disclosed herein is a simple mechanical device that is self contained and portable, utilizing a minimum of simple attachments to obtain the desired results.

A first object of this invention is to provide a balanced machine using a basic lapidary wheel which is also usable as a tumbler or as a machine for automatically polishing flat rock surfaces. In this regard, the machine uses a rotating dished pan, upon which the particular types or shapes of rock can be ground or polished. Attachments are provided for accurate grinding and polishing of flat rock surfaces or for grinding and polishing of irregular natural rock surfaces.

Another object of this invention is to provide :a novel arrangement for the accurate polishing of a flat rock surface. The device described herein requires no manual operations after the machine has been set up for flat work, and insures complete random polishing of a fiat surface Without uneven pressure along any portion of the polished area.

Another object of this invention is to provide a lapidary machine that can be readily and easily arranged for any of the particular operations that may be performed thereon. The machine provides accurate and changeable speed control, and ready access to the motor and belts that drive the main Wheel.

These and further objects will be evident from a study of the following disclosure, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate a preferred form of the invention. It is to be understood at the outset that this form of the invention is merely exemplary and that various modifications might be made by one skilled in this field Without deviating from the basic concepts of the invention as disclosed. For this reason the claims following this specification are intended as the only limiting definitions of the invention.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side view of the machine set up for the processing of flat rock surfaces;

FIGURE 2 is a top view of the machine as seen along line 2-2 in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged section view taken along line 3-3 in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged bottom view of the machine as seen along line 4-4 in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 55 in FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 6 is a view similar to FIGURE 1, showing the machine arranged for use as a tumbler for polishing irregular natural rock surfaces, with a portion of the main wheel assembly being shown broken away in section; and

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary top view of the machine as seen along line 77 in FIGURE 6.

The basic machine involved herein is designed for use as a multiple purpose device for common lapidary operations, which include the grinding and polishing of surfaces that are fiat, irregular, or geometric. In FIGURES 1-6, I have shown the machine arranged for the polishing of fiat rock surfaces. At the present, this operation as done Patented August 23, 1956 by the hobbyist is normally a manual operation, and is particularly difficult due to the probability of unequal pressure being exerted along one portion of the area being ground or polished. Such pressure will obviously cause the final surface to be rounded and not perfectly flat. The instant machine when arranged as shown in the above figures, will produce perfectly fiat rock surfaces without any manual grinding or polishing operations whatsoever.

The basic framework for the machine comprises two sets of outwardly turned legs 10 joined at their upper ends in pairs and mounted on vertical plates 11. The plates 11 straddle a main channel 12 and are bolted across the two flanges of the channel 12 by a releasable bolt 13. The two plates 11 are therefore independent, and the legs 12 can be pivoted about the axis of bolt 13 relative to one another prior to the tightening of bolt 13 so as to allow the framework to be self leveling regardless of the contour of the surface upon which the legs rest.

Rotatably mounted on the web of the channel 12 is the main driven structure of the machine, which can best be seen at the right hand end of FIGURE 3. This structure is fixed to a shaft 14 which is rotatably carried within a suitable bearing 15 mounted on the channel 12. The bearing 15 is mounted by means of bolts 16 that are received through slots in the Web of the channel 12 so as to be longitudinally adjustable relative to channel 12.

Fixed to the upper end of the shaft 14 is a dished circular pan 17 which is preferably made of spun aluminum. The pan 17 has a cold rolled steel plate 18 resting on its inside circular surface, the exposed surface of plate 18 being the surface upon which a suitable conventional grinding or polishing compound is maintained during the use of the machine. The plate 18 is secured to the shaft 14 by means of a coaxial bolt 20 which also serves to fix the intermediate pan 17 relative to shaft 14. The bolt head of the bolt 20 lies flush with the exposed surface of the plate 18.

The shaft 14 has two driven members fixed to it, the first being a pulley 21 and the second being a plywood disc 22. The disc 22 is secured to the pulley 21 and serves as a base support or turntable for the pan 17 and plate 18. The pulley 21 is a conventional V-belt pulley, while the larger disc 22 has a smooth periphery upon which a V-belt also can be engaged.

The drive mechanism by which the shaft 14 is turned can be seen in FIGURES 3 and 4. This mechanism comprises an electric motor 23 which has an output shaft 24. The shaft 24 has multiple pulleys 25 and 26 fixed thereon, the two pulleys 25 and 26 being alternately used to either indirectly or directly effect rotation of the shaft 14.

The slow speed direct connection is illustrated in full lines in the drawings. There is provided an intermediate idler spindle 27 which is rotatably carried by a bearing 28 mounted on the web of the channel 12. Bearing 28 is selectively adjustable in a longitudinal direction due to slots in the channel 12 which receive bolts 30. Fixed to the spindle 27 is a relatively large V-belt pulley 31, and two identical adjacent pulleys 32 and 33. In the drive shown in FIGURES 3 and 4, the pulley 32 is being used to turn the disc 22 by means of a V-belt 34. The spindle 27 is being turned by means of a V-belt which drives the pulley 31 due to engagement with the driving pulley 26. This particular connection results in the slowest speed possible with the apparatus as shown.

A slightly greater speed is possible by utilizing the same driving connection just described from the motor 23 to the spindle 27, in combination with a slightly smaller V-belt between the pulley 33 and the pulley 21 on the main shaft 14. Should a high speed operation be desired, the intermediate spindle 27 may be completely bypassed, and the larger pulley 25 on motor shaft 24 can .9 be utilized to drive the pulley 21 directly, as shown in dashed lines in FIGURES 3 and 4, the belt in this instance being indicated by the reference numeral 36.

The motor 23 is preferably carried upon a longitudinally adjustable bracket 37 that is slidable along a slot 38 cut through the web of the channel 12, the bracket 37 being selectively positioned by means of a bolt 40. Thus, by merely releasing the bolt 40, one can relieve tension in the belts between the motor shaft 24 and spindle 27 for replacement or repair purposes. The longitudinal adjustments shown with regard to the mounting of the spindle 27 and the shaft 14 allow for ready replacement of the belts connecting them, as well as for proper tensioning of the belts during use.

As seen in the drawings, a circular shield 41 is provided about the periphery of the pan 17. The circular shield 41 is fixed at its right hand end as seen in the drawings, to an upright square socket member 42 which is fastened across the end of the channel 12. The shield 41 is supported at its left hand end by means of a yoke 43 formed of a bent piece of channel iron secured respectively to the shield 41 and the channel 12. The shield 41 serves to protect the user of the machine from accidental entanglement with the moving pan and associated driving members.

At its right hand end, the shield 41 is cut away and provided with an arcuate ledge 44- (FIGURES 3 and 4). This provides the necessary clearance for the various belts used to turn the pan 17 and also provides a ledge for the support of a second shield 45'. The shield 45 is a cover having downwardly extending sides that extend along the belts driven by the motor 23. Cover 45 rests on ledge 44 and is fastened to the shield 41 by means of a bolt 46 at each side of the machine, and is supported at its left hand end as shown in FIGURE 3 by means of a bracket 47. The shield 45 is designed so as to be easily removable by the unfastening of three bolts, so that the user of the machine can readily change the speed of operation of the pan 17, and can easily replace broken belts.

As seen in FIGURES ,16, the machine is set up for the grinding or polishing of fiat rock surfaces. This is accomplished automatically by utilizing a novel spider apparatus, which is supported by means of an overhead tubular arch 48 having a square base 50 that seats within the square socket 42 previously described. At the remaining end of the arch 48 is fastened a disc 51 on which are mounted a plurality of arms 52 secured to the disc 51 by means of bolts 53. As can be seen in FIGURE 5, each arm 52 has an extended shank 54- which abuts the lower end of the tubular arch 48, to provide resistance to turning of the arm 52 about the axis of the bolt 53 that joins it to the disc 51.

The spider described, consisting of the arms 52, is located in a stationary position directly adjacent to but not touching the exposed surface of the plate 18. In use, a circular steel ring is placed on the plate 18, one such ring being shown at 54 in FIGURE 2. A previously cut rock 55 is then placed within the ring 54: with its flat surface resting on the surface of the plate 18, which would normally be covered with a grinding or polishing medium with or without water.

In such an operation, it is advisable to utilize an extended splash ring 56 that fits within the side walls of the pan 17 to prevent the polishing compound or water from splashing over the sides of the pan 17. There also is utilized a smaller eccentric ring 57 that is fixed against the inside of the splash ring 56 by means of an arcuate positioning member 58. The member 58 preferably exerts some spring tension against both the splash ring 56 and the eccentric ring 57, so that the eccentric ring 57 will turn in unison with the pan 17.

In use, the machine can be set at a slightly tilted angle as illustrated, or can be used with pan 17 perfectly fiat. The angle of incline will vary the polishing action, by

providing more or less violent orientation of the rock 55. As the plate 18 is rotated in the direction shown by arrow 60 in FIGURE 2, the ring 54- will bear against the adjacent arm 52, which is stationary. The surface of the block 55 will be continuously polished, due to engagement with the polishing or grinding compound on the exposed surface of the plate 18. The rock 55 will be continuously agitated and turned due to the engagement of the ring 54 by the eccentric ring 57. Also, the tilted attitude of the entire machine will allow the rock 55 to move either more or less violently due to the turning of the ring 54 by insuring engagement of ring 54 with the eccentric ring 57. In this manner, the rock 55 can be left without supervision, and the grinding or polishing procedure can be accomplished without manual operations. Motion of ring 54 will continuously dress the exposed surface of plate 18, keeping it perfectly flat along its working area.

The present machine is also readily adaptable to use as a tumbler. In this instance, the spider is unnecessary, and one must remove the plate 18 by releasing the central coaxial bolt 29 on shaft 14. In place of the plate 18, one utilizes a plywood disc 61, which is secured to the shaft 14 by means of a bolt 62. Mounted on the disc 61 are a plurality of cylindrical containers or drums 63, which can be of varying diameters and depths as desired. The drums 63 are fixed to the disc 61 by means of bolts 64. Drums 63 are preferably provided with removable liners of polyethylene, within which are placed irregular rocks to be polished, along with a suitable polishing compound. The pan 17 is preferably tilted to a rather steep angle as shown in FIGURE 6, and the pan 17 is then rotated to tumble the rocks within the containers 63 in a random fashion. In this manner, irregular rock surfaces can be polished on the main lapidary machine.

In addition to the two specialized instances shown in the drawings, the machine is usable as a normal lapidary wheel by replacement of the plate 18 with a conventional lapidary disc. The person using the wheel can then tilt the pan 17 to any desired angle for convenient manual operation and holding of the work being processed. Thus the single machine, which is simple both in structure and in operation, is readily convertible from a conventional lapidary wheel to a specialized automatic processing of flat or irregular rock surfaces. The structure is designed particularly for use by the hobbyist in the rock field, who cannot normally afford the complicated machinery utilized by professionals. to the hobbyist the advantages of automatic machinery Involving much more complicated elements and necessitating a much greater financial outlay.

Many modifications could be made in the present device without deviating from the basic structure of the machine. For this reason, only the following claims are intended to limit or restrict the scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a lapidary machine:

a stationary supporting framework;

an upwardly open dished pan having a plane bottom interior surface, said pan being rotatably mounted on said framework for rotation about an axis perpendicular to said surface;

a plurality of arms fixed relative to said framework and extending outwardly from a location directly adjacent to and above the pan along said axis, said arms extending partially toward the periphery of said pan and parallel to said surface;

enclosure means freely resting on said surface in the areas between said arms, said enclosure means overlapping said arms in a direction parallel to said axis;

and an eccentric upright wall fixed relative to said pan extending upwardly from said surface, said wall being located radially beyond the ends of said arms by a distance less than the width of said enclosure means.

The instant machine makes available 5 6 2. In a lapidary machine: cated eccentrically relative to said axis and positioned a stationary supporting framework; radially outward beyond the ends of said arms by a an upwardly open dished pan having a plane bottom maximum distance less than the diameter of said interior surface, said pan being rotatably mounted ring. on said framework for rotation about an axis per- 5 References Cited by the Examiner pendicular to said surface; a plurality of coplanar arms carried upon an arched structure fixed to said framework and extending 1,602,438 10/1926 9 51*164 above said pan, said arms being directed outwardly 1,642,632 9/1927 Tltggen 51 164 from said axis in angularly spaced positions relative 10 2,653,423 9/1953 Whlte 51 131 to one another and being located parallel to and 3 3 11/1955 Porter et a1 51131 closely adjacent to said surface; 2,354,796 10/1958 Fl'llth 51-163 a circular ring having an open central portion, said rin 2,870,580 10/1959 Norton 51131 including a plane bottom edge resting freely upon 2,984,951 5/1961 Coons et al. 51131 said surface in an angular surface area between two 15 3,077,706 2/1963 Coons 51-129 arms; and a wall extending upwardly from said surface 10- HAROLD WHITEHEAD, Primary Examiner- 

1. IN A LAPIDARY MACHINE: A STATIONARY SUPPORTING FRAMEWORK; AN UPWARDLY OPEN DISHED PAN HAVING A PLANE BOTTOM INTERIOR SURFACE, SAID PAN BEING ROTATABLY MOUNTED ON SAID FRAME WORK FOR ROTATION ABOUT AN AXIS PERPENDICULAR TO SAID SURFACE; A PLURALITY OF ARMS FIXED RELATIVE TO SAID FRAMEWORK AND EXTENDING OUTWARDLY FROM A LOCATION DIRECTLY ADJACENT TO AND ABOVE THE PAN ALONG SAID AXIS, SAID ARMS EXTENDING PARTIALLY TOWARD THE PERIPHERY OF SAID PAN AND PARALLEL TO SAID SURFACE; ENCLOSURE MEANS FREELY RESTING ON SAID SURFACE IN THE AREAS BETWEEN SAID ARMS, SAID ENCLOSURE MEANS OVERLAPPING SAID ARMS IN A DIRECTION PARALLEL TO SAID AXIS; AND AN ECCENTRIC UPRIGHT WALL FIXED RELATIVE TO SAID PAN 